, hypocrisy, and intrigue of that day. Mme. de
Montbazon called at the hotel of the princess and spoke the following
words, which were written on a paper attached to her fan: "Madame, I
come here to attest that I am innocent of the spitefulness of which
they accuse me, there being no person of honor capable of uttering
such a calumny; and if I had committed such a crime, I would have
submitted to the punishments that the queen would have imposed upon
me, would never have shown myself before the world again, and would
have asked your pardon. I beg you to believe that I shall never be
lacking in the respect that I owe you because of the opinion which
I have of the merit and virtue of Mme. de Longueville." To which the
princess replied: "I very willingly receive the assurance you give
me of having had no part in the spitefulness that was published,
deferring all to the order the queen has given me."

After this episode, the princess refused to be in the same place with
Mme. de Montbazon. On one occasion, Mme. de Chevreuse had invited the
queen to a collation at a place where the queen enjoyed walking; she
requested the princess to join her, giving her word of honor that Mme.
de Montbazon would not be there; she was present, however, and the
princess was about to leave when the queen ordered Mme. de Montbazon
to feign illness and retire; this she refused to do and remained,
whereupon the queen and the princess left, and shortly afterward Mme.
de Montbazon received orders to leave Paris.

This excited the Importants to fever heat and a plot was formed, with
Mme. de Chevreuse as the leader, to assassinate the cardinal. Shortly
after this, Coligny, as champion of the cause of Mme. de Longueville,
challenged the Duc de Guise to a duel. The whole court was made up
of two parties: the Importants with Mme. de Montbazon and Mme. de
Chevreuse; and Conde and Mme. de Longueville with their friends;
the result was the death of Coligny. Mme. de Longueville was a true
_precieuse_ and hardly loved Coligny, but allowed him and any other to
serve and adore her in a respectable way--a principle followed by
the better women of the age, such as Mme. de Rambouillet and Mme. de
Sable.

Some time after these occurrences, Mme. de Longueville was stricken
with smallpox which, fortunately, did not impair her beauty; it was
said, on the contrary, that in taking away its first flower it left
all the brilliancy which, joined to her culture and charm